On 1/15/07, Sean Barrett sean@epoptic.com wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1
MacGyverMagic/Mgm stated for the record:
On 1/15/07, Bryan Derksen bryan.derksen@shaw.ca wrote:
I don't see how. Copyright covers a specific tangible expression, not the underlying ideas contained within it. One can make a movie out of a book and then have the book be in public domain while the movie remains copyrighted, for example. I think the sort of IP protection you're thinking of is more along the lines of trade secret or patent law, which as far as I can tell don't apply here.
That's why I'm mentioning the instructional videos and/or manuals as the tangible expressed bit of the magic. The written instructions to magic trick are copyrighted - no doubt.
Mgm
And as long as we don't copy "the instructional videos and/or manuals," revealing the trick is no more a violation of anything than revealing that Zeus gets the girl is a violation of anything.
Oh, by the way: Beowulf kills Grendel.
The real difficulty is supplying references. There's nothing wrong with referring to hard-copy manuals that aren't available online, though.